i feel so normal today. even though i went to sleep way too late (a bad habit i've picked up in the last couple of weeks - i haven't managed to go to bed before 2 for a while!), this morning i forced myself to wake up at 9.30 by putting four alarms on: two at 9, one at 9.15 and one at 9.30. at least it worked. :)
it's just that, even though i am very much a night person, waking up past 11 makes me feel like i've already wasted half of my day. i get so frustrated, and it's part of the reason why i've been feeling a bit shit.
so, anyway, i got up at 9.30 and did nice things. i ate a nice breakfast, including bitter orange tea and a banana+mango smoothie; i smoked a cigarette looking outside my window; i read my book; i had a nice long bubbly bath whilst reading my book; i've painted my nails again (this time white - the pink i'd tried chipped off after a day and i really can't be bothered with that). when i finish writing this i'll go cook myself lunch before it gets too late and i completely fuck up my rythms again.
i've fallen in love with my room here, completely. it's weird how i'd never noticed how pretty it easy, simply because i know it so well. it's like when people go 'wow' and 'ooooh' when i say my parents live in paris, and most of the time i just don't get it. what we don't know always seems better, and therefore what we know well seems quite unconsequential and boring. anyway, as i was saying, i love my room here. i wish i could take it away with me! especially after i've done this general re-organisation thing so that i now have all of my clothes here instead of having to share an extremely cramped walk-in (you can't really walk in anymore) with my mother. this photo was taken last night (as i was trying to show someone how i've put on weight by comparing a pictures from two years ago and now... i'm such a weirdo). i love the way the light reflects on the mirror at the back, and you can see all the beautiful colours i've got in here (and my insanely huge old collection of manga!). there's my cool designer chair that i received as a birthday present once; all of my little boxes on the little white shelf (two from laos, one from russia, one from thailand); the little silk hearts i bought in some market; a beautiful cotton scarf which is hung on a wooden scarf-hanging thing, both bought when i went to lake toba; my big moroccan floor cushion; my sock&pants chest of drawers (which goes with a desk made of the same materials, which my brother was supposed to take when he got his own place - he hasn't, so it'll be all mine!!!). all these things make me happy.
and yes, i know - admittedly - that my shirt looks a bit like a pajama top. it's not, i swear. it's even made of really nice, heavy silk. :)
now, for some more music i've listened to lately:
+ baaba maal - nomad soul: 8 out of 10
this was given to me by g. last year. since i'd decided a while back that i needed to listen to more african music, this is a good start. he's senegalese, and the songs are so good. made me want to go to africa (i will do at some point).
+ fiona apple - when the pawn... & extraordinary machine: both 10 out of 10
these were recommended to me by n., and what can i say, i love both of them. how can you even describe fiona apple? she's good, very good (huge understatement).
+ gemma hayes - night on my side: 8 out of 10
i already had this lying around, but i'd never listened to it properly. it's quite funny - my mum went to one of her concerts (!!!) when she was working in ireland a couple of years back, and bought the cd. and you know what, i might just have the same music taste my mother has... even though it seems quite weird to me that she might like it. errr. it's quite rocky, in a soft way. pretty, pretty voice.
+ jack johnson - in between dreams: 7 out of 10
oh, i know he's cheesy. and australians like him too much. and south east asian guesthouse owners as well. but i like it. it all started a long time ago when james passed 'banana pancakes' onto me... ah, it's so easy to listen to this, and it's all happy music. i like happy music.
+ radiodervish - centro del mundo: 10 out of 10
this was also given to me by n. he's full of good recommendations, that boy (apart from fabrizio de andre', of course, aka boring old italian folk music EURGH). sung in italian, french, arabic, spanish, truly multucultural, with middle eastern rythms, it's beautiful. one of the best albums i've listened to in a long time.
- sonic youth - daydream nation: 5 out of 10
i know they're supposed to be, you know, at the basis of indie rock or whatever. but there's way too much teenage angst in there, and it's a bit too heavy for my taste. i don't like noise (god i sound so old).
+ thom yorke - the eraser: 9 out of 10
i was so surprised by this! see, i don't even like radiohead. i find them whiney and quite frankly, very depressing. but this is good! it's not whiney! it's indie electronica just as i like it.
these are all the ones worth mentioning. i'm listening to lots of good stuff though, and discovering lots. i love it when it's like that. i'm not even that upset about losing all the music on my old ipod anymore. :) and it's given me the chance to do that mp3 collection spring clean i wanted to do for a long time... see, once i have music on my ipod, i tend to leave it there even if i don't like it, or have never listened to it. it's silly. so now i'm making a point of listening to every single album i get, and deciding whether i like it enough to keep it. i'm all organised, can you believe it!
and finally, one of my photos is now on the mirror project. isn't it a cool website?